The government of Russia has given the green light to the sale of the Inditex business in the country, made up of 514 stores and more than 9,000 employees, to the Daher group, owner of the Dubai Mall. Specifically, the Government Commission for Foreign Investments of the Russian Federation approved on March 30 an agreement for the sale of the firm New Fashion, which groups the Russian assets of the Spanish company Inditex, according to what the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Viktor Yevtukhov, told the Russian newspaper RBC, without specifying the economic details of the agreement.
Thus, Inditex will transfer all its commercial platforms in Russia to the new owner, which will open stores in the country under specially created brands: MAAG, DUB, ECRU, VILET. “Collections with new labels have already been seen and brought to Russia. All stores are ready for the opening, which should take place in April-May [2023]”, added Yevtukhov. On the occasion of the presentation of the Galician company’s annual results, the CEO of Inditex, Oscar García Maceiras, highlighted that this operation will mean the final departure of the group from Russia.
The terms of this operation will make it possible to preserve a substantial part of the jobs that the Inditex Group maintained in Russia, by including the transfer of most of the premises occupied up to now by its stores. Company sources have told Europa Press that the operation has been carried out in the “best possible conditions” for employees with the aim of preserving employment. Prior agreement with the owners, these premises will house the future points of sale of brands owned by the buying group, totally unrelated to Inditex.
The transaction with Daher, one of the shareholders of Azadea, Inditex’s partner in the Middle East and North Africa, will mean the cessation of the operations of the company founded by Amancio Ortega, in the Russian Federation after the suspension of its commercial activity last March 5th. In the event that new circumstances arise in the future that, in Inditex’s opinion, allow the return of the Group’s brands to this market, the Galician company and the Daher group contemplate in their agreement the possibility of a collaboration between the two through a franchise agreement